Vol. 498 No. 4
300 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will report on recent trends in the birth to young single teenage mothers of babies with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus in the Dublin region in particular; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27362/98]
The Dublin EUROCAT register of congenital anomalies has been collecting data on children born with Spina Bifida/Hydrocephalus and related neural tube defects in the Eastern Health Board area since 1980. During the 18 year period 1980-1997, there has been a downward trend in the number of NTD births to teenage single mothers, this corresponds to the overall downward trend among mothers of all ages during the same period. Data from the EUROCAT register shows that 12 children with NTD were born to teenage single mothers during the ten-year period 1988-97. Only one of these cases occurred after 1993.
Neural Tube Defects in Single Teenage Mothers — Eastern Health Board 1980-1997
|
Year |
Number of Births |
Number of NTD |
Rate of NTD/ 10,000 births |
|
1980 |
708 |
4 |
56.6 |
|
1981 |
743 |
7 |
94.2 |
|
1982 |
839 |
3 |
35.8 |
|
1983 |
842 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
1984 |
890 |
1 |
11.2 |
|
1985 |
864 |
4 |
46.3 |
|
1986 |
951 |
1 |
10.5 |
|
1987 |
956 |
5 |
52.3 |
|
1988 |
983 |
3 |
30.5 |
|
1989 |
1007 |
1 |
9.9 |
|
1990 |
1078 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
1991 |
1142 |
1 |
8.8 |
|
1992 |
1131 |
3 |
26.5 |
|
1993 |
1109 |
3 |
27.1 |
|
1994 |
1091 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
1995 |
1006 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
1996 |
1137 |
0 |
0.0 |
|
1997 |
1077 |
1 |
9.3 |
